Wall Street Women Crystal Ladder Award Winner
Sophia Lee
Firm: IEX
Sophia Lee’s journey started at the Massachusetts Institution of Technology and the study of mechanical engineering. With a love of numbers and science, her future seemed set as a designer of machines, tools, airplanes, automobiles or capital equipment at the prestigious school. But as she entered her junior year, Lee took law classes as electives and became entranced with the intricacies of the courtroom.
Out of school, Lee did a brief two-year stint as a technology associate at Morgan Stanley. But realizing her passion for engineering was matched by a fascination with the law, she enrolled in New York University’s School of Law to earn a degree. The dual concentration of engineering and law helped launch her career trajectory into the niche world of electronic trading on Wall Street.
“I think what makes me successful is my ability to work well in a team and the creativity I bring to the problem-solving process,” Lee told Traders.
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And that ability to solve complex corporate and legal issues started when she joined the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP as an associate. She worked with Judith Thoyer, counsel at the corporate department and former co-head of the mergers and acquisitions group. Lee studied the legal system from the inside out and learned the inner workings of the corporate governance machine. In her three-and-a-half-year stint there, she was recognized by her colleagues as extremely competent and detail-oriented.
Then in June 2000, Lee left Paul, Weiss to join Wall Street at ITG as its associate general counsel. While at the independent agency broker, she learned firsthand about the equities market ? from market structure to electronic trading to the regulatory framework. As ITG and the equity market blossomed, she demonstrated an amazing ability to prioritize and complete a large quantity of legal work in client contracts. In an industry that moved in milliseconds, Lee learned to work in a similar fashion, not just during review processes but also in follow-ups on outstanding matters with colleagues and prospective clients’ legal teams.
From ITG, Lee moved to Liquidnet, this time moving up the ladder as deputy general counsel, where she would stay for 10 years. Being a regular at the market structure debates with securities commissioners globally, where she ensured that the interests of institutional investors were protected, led her to appreciate the responsibilities of being an asset manager and to become a CFA charterholder.
“I decided to pursue the CFA charter because having worked with so many asset managers on issues such as their investment objectives and best execution obligations, I wanted to learn more about securities analysis and to add greater value in my role as legal counsel,” she told Traders.
Now, Lee calls buyside-owned IEX her new home. As its general counsel, she eyes her future right alongside the trading venue.
“As IEX expands and seeks approval to become an exchange,” she said, “I hope to continue to accept new challenges, expand my responsibilities and contribute to IEX’s growth.”
